Caring for Our Aging Minority Women 

By Jean Oxendine


Closing the Gap, Minority Women’s Health Initiative • June/July 1998


Elderly minority women suffer from health problems that often 

go unnoticed and untreated, according to Marion Primas, 

Ph.D., Deputy Director, Office of Minority and Women’s 

Health in the HHS Health Resources and Services Administration’s 

Bureau of Primary Health Care. Like younger minority women, the 

older population of minority women—one of the nation’s fastest growing groups—suffers from health problems in greater numbers than 

the general population. 

According the Administration on Aging (AoA), the older population, aged 65 years or older, numbered 33.9 million in 1996. They 

represented 12.8 percent of the U.S. population, or about one in 

eight Americans. 

Older women outnumber their male counterparts. There are 

roughly 145 women for every 100 men. In 1996, about 15 percent 

of persons over age 65 were minorities; 7.9 percent were Black, 1.9 

percent were Asian American or Pacific Islander, 4.7 percent were 

Hispanic, and less than one percent were American Indian or Alaska 

Native. 

According to Dr. Primas, among the most critical health problems affecting older minority women, are: 

•	 Heart disease, minority women are increasingly more prone to 

heart attacks; 

•	 Cancer; 

•	 Stroke; 

•	 Alzheimer’s disease; 

•	 Mental illness, along with alcohol and drug abuse; 

•	 Osteoporosis, often leading to hip fractures; 

and other conditions including: 

•	 Polypharmacy—taking too many or the wrong medications; 

•	 Lack of mammography screening; 

•	 Nutrition; and 

• S ocial isolation, socioeconomic status, and elder abuse. 

In looking more closely at a few of these areas, we see that the risk 

of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), increases with age, and the prevalence 

doubles every five years beyond age 65, according to a National Institutes of Health study. The study also shows that nearly half of all 

people age 85 and older have symptoms of AD. Not only does AD 

impact the health of the individual and her family, it takes an economic toll in the U.S. in health care expenses and lost wages of both 

patients and their caregivers. Best estimates show $80 to $100 billion 

go toward caring for AD patients every year. 

Another area of concern is that elderly women often misuse overthe-counter (OTC) medications. Older persons experience two to 

three times more adverse drug reactions than do younger adults, most 

often from OTC drugs. One reason is that older people use more 

medications and they consult more physicians, increasing the likelihood of duplication and drug interactions, according to the AoA. 

Despite this risk, older individuals are much less likely to receive counseling or directions than younger adults. 

In 1995, only half of U.S. women were getting regular mammography checkups in accordance with established medical guidelines. “It is recommended that women over age 50 have one mammogram per year, and they should follow through with this recommendation,” said Dr. Primas. Almost one in every ten women think they 

don’t have to worry about breast cancer after reaching menopause. 

They think that with the decrease in estrogen levels, they are less likely 

to get breast cancer. But the truth is that older age means greater, not 

less, risk. The longer a woman lives, the more likely she is to develop 

breast cancer. 

“The health of elderly minority women is something with which 

we should all be concerned,” said Dr. Primas. The services are out 

there, at the federal, state, and local levels. Be proactive and show your 

loved ones that they can be healthy and that there are treatments for 

their problems. They do not have to live their older years in pain and 

suffering. Help is just a phone call away.

Office of Minority Health Resource Center	 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services